Jazz vocal icon Shirley Horn was so impressed when she first heard Jeffery Smith sing in France in 1992 that she helped him get signed to Verve Records. She then produced his debut, "Ramona," album, and -- for good measure -- played piano on it as well.

Smith, now a San Diego resident, has since worked with Wynton Marsalis, Claude Bolling and other jazz greats, and has two other critically acclaimed solo albums to his credit, "A Little Sweeter" and "Down Here Below."

He has also been featured on nearly a dozen compilation albums and was singled out for praise by Time magazine, which wrote of "A Little Sweeter" and Smith: "He's rich yet light, the flour-less chocolate cake of a weight watchers dream! ... This may be the most vital album you’ll hear this year!”

For his two all-ages jazz-brunch concerts here Sunday in National City's Paradise Village, the supple-voiced Smith will focus on jazz standards and classics from the Great American Songbook. He'll backed by an all-star local trio -- pianist Mikan Zlatkovich, bassist Bill Andrews and drummer Russell Bizzett -- along with guest Cynthia Hammond (11 a.m.). San Diego jazz pioneer Daniel Jackson, who was scheduled to sit in at the 1:30 p.m. jazz brunch, has a conflict that will prevent him from performing as planned.

If Sunday's pair of 90-minute jazz brunch gigs go well, Smith hopes to initiate a jazz concert series in the Paradise Village theater, where he would serve as artistic director.